Viral Art
2014
RJ RushmoreEarly writing on how the internet shapes street art and graffiti.
CC BY-SA 4.0
How the internet has shaped street art and graffiti
In Viral Art, RJ Rushmore traces how the histories of street art and graffiti have been shaped by communication technologies, from meeting up at nightclubs to publishing books to sharing photos online. Conceptualizing the internet as a public space, Rushmore argues that the future of street art and graffiti may lie in digital interventions rather than physical ones.
Chapter 1: Communication from the 1960’s through 1999
- On being a graffiti writer in the 1970’s
- The Soul Artists
- The Mudd Club and “Beyond Words”
- “Wild Style”
- “Subway Art” and other early published documentation of graffiti
- Stencils in Paris
- The education of James Jessop
- Shepard Fairey’s surprising beginnings
- Flick trading
- Zines and magazines
- Adam Void on zines
- Conclusion to chapter one
Chapter 1.5: In conversation with Martha Cooper, Luna Park and RJ Rushmore
Chapter 2: Building and discovering the global track
- Audience and public in the digital age
- The early new systems
- And then came 2006
- Rise of the hobbyist documentary photographer
- Continued growth on new digital platforms
- New platforms away from keyboard
- Conclusion on the structure of the new systems
- Existing in the new systems
- Logan Hicks and Stencil Revolution
- Shepard Fairey on going from the street to the internet
- Reaching beyond geographic boundaries
- Where are you based? Who cares?
- Tracing a style’s transition from local to global
- The internet gives Roa a boost
- Australians and their travels
- A closer look at Kid Zoom
- Gaia gets up in Baltimore
- Street art success through the internet
- Painting in spaces where fans rarely visit
- Roa: From abandoned factories to city centers
- JR amplifies voices
- The Underbelly Project
- Talking to the web
- Banksy painting for the media and the web
- A brief interview with C215
- Some final thoughts on location
Chapter 2.5: An interview with Brooklyn Street Art
Chapter 3: Styles for the global track
- Conceptual and abstract street art
- Op art
- Super ephemeral
- Buffable offenses
- Ad takeovers
- OX, ad takeovers and the internet
- Jordan Seiler’s megaphone
- An interview with Poster Boy
- Conclusion on ad takeovers
- Tape art and yarnbombing
- Install, document and dismantle
- Jeice2’s very ephemeral poster
- Intentionally temporary yarn bombs
- Staged photos by Elfo and The Wa
- The story of an artwork gone viral
- Performance
- Performing graffiti and street art
- Nug and Pike’s videos
- KATSU’s videos
- Brad Downey and Akay’s videos
- Performing as Maismenos
- The Astoria Scum River Bridge
- SWEATSHOPPE’s videos
- Conclusion on super ephemeral art
- Incomplete on the street
- Activated on your screen
- Bumblebeelovesyou’s physical/digital comic
- Multi-photo pieces
- Street animations
- GIFs
- Manifestos
- Invisible pieces
- Manipulated photography
- Conclusion on street art and graffiti designed for the global track
- But maybe the internet isn’t so great
- Cheating
- Rise of the gatekeepers
- Do-it-for-the-photo street art
- The death of local styles
- A subpar experience
- Different responses to the same work, online and on the street
- Conclusion on traditional street art and graffiti online
Chapter 3.5: An interview with KATSU
Chapter 4: Organic and invasive viral art
- Traditional internet art
- A few examples
- Organic viral art
- Digital Faile
- Evan Roth, floating between worlds
- General Howe, from pavement to pixels
- John Fekner finds a new public space
- Public internet art
- KATSU getting up in digital space
- Conclusion on organic viral art by street artists and graffiti writers
- Viral art by non-street artists/graffiti writers
- GIF artists
- Memes
- Conclusion on organic viral art
- Invasive Viral Art
- Evan and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.org
- The World’s Most Exclusive Website
- Saber’s Twitter graffiti
- Matt Troy: Spammer and/or artist
- Art in your spam folder
- John Fekner in the digital ether
- Google bombs
- Lepos invades on all fronts
- SimCopter’s easter egg
- Defacing websites as a form of graffiti
- Conclusion on invasive viral art
- In closing